Russian State Archives of Historical and Cultural Monuments (RSAC/RAHMС) in the First Post-Revolutionary Years (1917–1919): The Contribution of Academician P.P. Pokryshkin

The first post-revolutionary years (1917–1919) were a period of profound changes in all spheres of life, including the cultural sphere. This article aims to outline the contribution of the restorer, academician of architecture P.P. Pokryshkin, to the organization of the first Soviet state institution responsible for the protection of cultural heritage monuments – the Russian State Archaeological Commission (RSAC), as well as its transformation into a major scientific center – the Russian Academy of the History of Material Culture (RAHMC). The main research methods used were the method of historical analysis, historical-comparative, chronological and retrospective methods. Based on these methods, a comprehensive historical reconstruction of P.P. Pokryshkin’s activities in the Archaeological Commission was carried out, with an emphasis on his contribution to the creation of a large restoration and research center based at the institution. A brief acquaintance with a number of archival documents revealed that the transformation of the Archaeological Commission into RAHMC and the creation of the Institute of Archaeological Technology within it in August 1919 was initiated and prepared to a significant extent by P.P. Pokryshkin. At the same time, the scientist worked on issues of determining the place of the RSAC and the RAHMC in the system of Soviet institutions for the protection of cultural heritage. As a result of the expansion of the activities of the RSAC, as well as the work associated with the development of the Statute of the future Academy, P.P. Pokryshkin established himself as a representative of a strictly scientific approach to the organization of activities for the protection of monuments. The study of P.P. Pokryshkin’s contribution was conducted in the cultural and historical context of the time, however, the information presented cannot fully reveal the enormous work of the scientist, which served to organize the activities of the first Soviet institutions for the protection of monuments on a scientific basis, and therefore requires further research.

1. Boito C. (1886) I nostri vecchi monumenti. Conservare o restaurare? Nuova antologia. No. 87. Р. 480-506.

2. Farmakovskaya T.I. (1988) Boris Vladimirovich Farmakovskiy [Boris Vladimirovich Farmakovsky]. Kiev: Nauk. dumka.

3. Farmakovsky B.V. (1921) K istorii uchrezhdeniy Rossiyskoy Akademii istorii material’noy kul’tury [On the history of institutions of the Russian Academy of the History of Material Culture]. Petrograd.

4. Foramitti V., Bulfone Gransinigh F. (2019) L’influenza degli archeologi francesi della prima metà dell’Ottocento sul pensiero di Boito e Giovannoni. In: Bonaccorso G., Moschini F. (eds.) Gustavo Giovannoni e l’architetto integrale: convegno internazionale. Roma: Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, 2019. P. 113–118

5. Giovannoni G. (1913) Restauro dei monumenti. In: La tutela delle opere d’arte in Italia. Roma: E. Calzone. P. 509–511.

6. Golikov G.N. (eds.) (1976) Vladimir Il’ich Lenin: biograficheskaya khronika, 1870-1924. T. 7. [Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: Biographical chronicle, 1870–1924. Vol. 7.]. M.: Politizdat.

7. Gorelova S.I. (1990) Activities of the Museum Fund during the First Years of the Soviet Rule (1917–1925). Khudozhestvennoye naslediye: khraneniye, issledovaniya, restavratsiya. Moscow: GosNIIR. No. 13. P. 203–216.

8. Goroncharovskiy V.A. (2022) Introduction. Establishment of the Russian Academy for the History of Material Culture (RAHMC) and its Founding Fathers. Ottsy-osnovateli RAIMK: ikh zhiznennyy put’ i vklad v nauku. Saint Petersburg: IIMK RAN. P. 9-15.

9. Ivanov D.V. (2018) Revolyutsii i kollektsii: Petrogradskoye (Leningradskoye) otdeleniye Gosudarstvennogo muzeynogo fonda i Muzey antropologii i etnografii [Revolutions and collections: Petrograd (Leningrad) branch of the State Museum Fund and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography]. Saint Petersburg: MAE RAN.

10. Mednikova E.Yu. (1995) Deyatel’nost’ akademika arkhitektury P.P. Pokryshkina v Imperatorskoy Arkheologicheskoy Komissii [Activities of the academician of architecture P.P. Pokryshkin in the Imperial Archaeological Commission]. Arkheologicheskiye vesti. No. 4. P. 303–311.

11. Medvedeva M.V. (2004) Petr Petrovich Pokryshkin and Problems of the Preservation of Architectural Sites (on the Basis of Materials from Archives of IIMK RAS). Arkheologicheskiye Vesti. No. 11. P. 379–386.

12. Nikitina A.A. (2021) Priest Petr Pokryshkin as a Guardian of the Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Russia. To the 150-th Anniversary of His Birth. Vestnik Ekaterinburgskoy dukhovnoy seminarii. No. 33. P. 274–297. DOI: 10.24412/2224-5391-2021-33-274-297

13. Nikitina A.A. (2023) P.P. Pokryshkin — The Founder of the «Artistic-Archeological» Restoration Method. Bogoslovskiy vestnik. No. 2(49). P. 293–317. DOI: 10.31802/GB.2023.49.2.014

14. Platonova N.I. (1989) The Russian Academy of the History of Material Culture. The History of Its Setting Up (1918–1919). Sovetskaya arkheologiya. No. 4. P. 5–16.

15. Platonova N.I. (2014) First Steps in the Area of Monument Protection in the Post-Revolutionary Petrograd (on the Publication of Documents from the Personal Archive of P.P. Pokryshkin). Rossiyskiy arkheologicheskiy ezhegodnik. No. 4. P. 480–498.

16. Platonova N.I. (2015) Biography of P. P. Pokryshkin, the Architect and Archaeologist. Kratkiye soobshcheniya instituta arkheologii RAN. No. 241. P. 422–437.

17. Ravdonikas V.I. (1930) Za marksistskuyu istoriyu material’noy kul’tury [For the Marxist history of material culture]. Leningrad: tip. im. I.E. Kotlyakova.

18. Roslavskiy V.M. (2015) Moskva — Petrograd: dva tsentra otechestvennoy restavratsii [Moscow — Petrograd: Two centers of domestic restoration]. M.: Indrik.

19. Ruskin J. (1889) The Seven Lamps of Architecture. Kent: Published by George Allen.

20. Viollet-le-Duc E. (1863) Entretiens sur l’architecture. Paris: P. Mardaga.

21. Viollet-le-Duc E. (1875) Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française di IX au XVI siècle. Paris: B. Bance.

22. Yakhont O.V. (2023) From the History of the Formation of the System Protection and Restoration of Monuments of Art and Culture in Russia in the 1917–1920’s. Khudozhestvennoye naslediye. Issledovaniya. Restavratsiya. Khraneniye. No. 1. P. 60–74.